Effects of paternal drinking, conduct disorder and childhood home environment on the development of alcohol use disorders in a Thai population

1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, HatYai, Songkhla, Thailand2Department of Epidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, HatYai, Songkhla, Thailand3Centre for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, Australia4Department of Statistics, School of Economic and Financial Studies, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia

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Abstract

AimsTo identify influences on the development of alcohol use disorders in a Thai population, particularly parental drinking and childhood environment.DesignCase–control study.SettingA university hospital, a regional hospital and a community hospital in southern Thailand.ParticipantsNinety-one alcohol-dependents and 77 hazardous/harmful drinkers were recruited as cases and 144 non- or infrequent drinkers as controls.MeasurementsData on parental drinking, family demographic characteristics, family activities, parental disciplinary practice, early religious life and conduct disorder were obtained using a structured interview questionnaire. The main outcome measure was the subject's classification as alcohol-dependent, hazardous/harmful drinker or non-/infrequent drinker.FindingsA significant relationship was found between having a drinking father and the occurrence of hazardous/harmful drinking or alcohol dependence in the subjects. Childhood factors (conduct disorder and having been a temple boy, relative probability ratios, RPRs and 95% CI: 6.39, 2.81–14.55 and 2.21, 1.19–4.08, respectively) also significantly predicted alcohol dependence, while perceived poverty and ethnic alienation was reported less frequently by hazardous/harmful drinkers and alcohol-dependents (RPRs and 95% CIs = 0.34, 0.19–0.62 and 0.59, 0.38–0.93, respectively) than the controls. The relative probability ratio for the effect of the father's infrequent drinking on the son's alcohol dependence was 2.92 (95% CI = 1.42–6.02) and for the father's heavy or dependent drinking 2.84 (95% CI = 1.31–6.15).ConclusionsBeing exposed to a light-drinking father increases the risk of a son's alcohol use disorders exhibited either as hazardous–harmful or dependent drinking. However, exposure to a heavy- or dependent-drinking father is associated more uniquely with an increased risk of his son being alcohol-dependent. The extent to which this is seen in other cultures is worthy of exploration.